Here are just a handful of fabrics we love for some of these projects. Click on the fabric images to visit the Sew,Mama,Sew!shop:

Buy It

Personalized Art Box from Gifts DefineGifts Define offers this compact Personalized Art Box which has a magnetic whiteboard and a colorful chalkboard panel that opens to reveal storage. Check out their Facebook page for daily posts with giveaways and promotional discounts.

Mix It

Cinnamon Snowflakes from Mowielicious
Mowie is back with another cookie recipe, but this time it’s shaped like a star and pink! These scrumptious Cinnamon Snowflake Cookies are great for anyone who likes a little sugar & spice in their treats.

Print It

Paper City
Joel from Made by Joel drew this happy little Paper City which can be printed & enjoyed by kids. We think it’s an especially fun distraction to channel some of that pre-holiday excitement (and it’s a perfect fold-and-go project for traveling too).

Win It

Tweet #handmadeholidays anytime this week for a chance to win a $20 gift certificate to Sew,Mama,Sew!

Comment in today’s post for a chance to win one of these books! Visit our prizelists to see some of the other great giveaways this month.

Join the Mousekin family as they prepare for Christmas! Filled with crafts and recipes, poems and stories, this is a Christmas book to share with the whole family, year after year.

All the highlights of a great December are here. The Mousekins pick out and decorate a tree. Make paper snowflakes with Nana Mousekin. Bake cookies for friends and neighbors. Write letters to Santa Mouse. Welcome carolers. Sled and skate and make a snowmouse. Share family stories of Christmases past. And find secret corners of the house to work on surprise presents for each other.

You can celebrate along with the Mousekins—this book includes recipes for cookies, instructions for paper and felt crafts, and stories and poems to share with your family.

Maggie Smith perfectly captures the happy whirl that is Christmas—when the house smells of cinnamon and ginger and you’re putting the finishing touches on homemade gifts, and the excitement of secrets soon to be revealed is buzzing in the air. Open these pages and step into the warmth of family, the spirit of sharing, and a season full of love.

Heirloom quilting and sewing are perennial favorites and continue to enjoy an upsurge in popularity as crafters look for more ways to hone their skills to make beautiful handmade pieces.

With Cherished Quilts for Babies and Kids, readers will find a stunning collection of 35 heirloom-quality quilting projects-5 of which have never appeared in American Patchwork & Quilting magazine. Every quilt is “quilter tested to ensure consistent results and the book’s convenient concealed spiral binding makes it a snap for quilters to lay open flat and follow along.

Full-size patterns for all projects, including a quilt diagram, easy assembly instructions, and schematic illustrations

Ideas and inspiration for making beautiful throws and bed-sized quilts

Beautiful full-color photographs of every project

Perfect for gift-giving to children from birth to high school-age, the projects range from crib- and bed-sized quilts to keepsakes and more.

Sock yarn isn’t just for socks anymore! Veteran knitter Judith Durant has selected 101 original patterns for items that can be created from just a single skein of sock yarn—adorable baby clothes, warm mittens and hats, beautiful scarves, original jewelry, bags, cozies—even a dog sweater and a lampshade! Contributed by yarn shops and designers throughout North America, the patterns are fetching and fun to knit. Some knit up in less than three hours, others make creative use of sock yarn leftovers, and several make heirloom-worthy gifts.

Join the creator of The Black Apple, Emily Martin, on a trip through her magical world of paper dolls, imaginary places, and clever craft projects.

Inside this book you’ll find 21 sweet, mysterious characters with clothes and accessories all their own—from a busy beekeeper’s daughter to a bird-loving librarian. You’ll also find 16 dolls ready to be designed and brought to life by you! Emily will show you how to draw, paint, and personalize your way to a little paper replica of anyone you’d like.

The Green Grocery Bag Challenge is a project to encourage sewists to wrap their holiday gifts in reusable cloth grocery bags, thus reducing the amount of wrapping paper entering the waste stream while simultaneously getting multi-use bags into the hands of consumers. Please include Mother Earth in your holiday plans. Read more here and join us on The Green Grocery Bag Challenge Facebook page where we’ll be posting wrapping ideas, sewing patterns and tips for reducing waste this holiday season.

I like to make monsters out of old sweaters. I think I lost the link I had for a sweet tutorial, but it was so good and inspiring and I’ve made many of them and I love them (and so do the Preschoolers I’ve given them to!)!

I loved paper dolls as a child and think the book looks fascinating. I also have been thinking a lot lately about making a quilt my daughter will be able to cherish so that book would be very useful! Thank you for the chance to win!

Ps… just curious if there is going to be another giveaway day in December (I think there was one last year or maybe it was the year before?) I have been wanting to get involved and give some stuff away!

OK, seriously? My to-make list has had at least two additions every day in November, and today I cannot find a single thing that I don’t want to add. My two-year-old is going to have a LOT of presents under the tree this year. And on her birthday. And any other random time I can find an excuse to give her something. Handmade Spoiled! My big problem now is finding a place to hide my stash of handmade gifts.

I love the jumper and have some cordouroy I bought last year for my little girl that might be perfect. And the trinket keepers are great for her too. She wants to be a scientist when she grows up because “everything is so interesting…” so she says. These would be great for her to store her interesting finds in!

Wonderful things posted again today. Ilove the jumper and the others too from that same site. LOVE the cinnamon snowflake cookies. Those look wonderful. I will need to check out the others they also posted for that Christmas Cookie week.

I have to say I’m excited to see the Black Apple’s paper doll book in the giveaway line-up. It’s been on my wish list for a little while now :). Love the monster dolls! I have a couple little boys, and a little girl actually, who would have a lot of fun with those.

Loving the petticoat! My 3 yr old is forever wearing tutus under her dresses but they’re too short too be appreciated. (they just make her bottom look bigger) Definitely on my christmas to do list. Thanks!

Yay! I have been waiting for this category! I love all of the ideas. Now I just need to decide which one to make for my nieces and nephew. Thanks so much for these handmade holidays posts. They are making my holiday season a lot more enjoyable (and a lot busier!)

I love this list! Those little treasure keepers are perfect for my girls. You can bet they will be getting some of those to hold silly bandz and Japanese erasers. That petticoat couldn’t be cuter, too. That would be perfect for my niece.

These would be so great for my toddler too! The pettiskirt is too cute! I must admit I am scared to make one though after a friend’s experience trying to make one! Haha! The jumper is great – I just need to try and size it down a bit. Thanks so much for all the great gift ideas!

The Made by Joel site is awesome! I haven’t even looked at the other projects here yet, and my computer playtime for this morning is up. I’ll stop back later today when I can take another break; that tulle skirt looks pretty cute, too. Thanks again!

Love those monster dolls. So cute. I’m planning on a animal pillow with pajama pocket for the preschooler in my life. I saw it at a quilt shop and the mouth is a zipper that goes across the pillow. I wonder if there’s something similar online … (off to check).

The cherished quilts book looks so great! I may need to make some of the projects from the tutorials for my toddler this year! Thank you so much for posting them! I love the idea of the green grocery bag project!

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Meet Kristin + Beth

We always travel with handmade bags. We have vintage embroidery framed on our walls, piles of fabric next to the sewing machine and more WIPs than we'll ever finish. We love the history, craft and artistry of sewing. Read More

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